Dead Flowers Second Chance
by li.chan93
Summary: A kunoichi left for dead is given a second chance by an old man. Turning the young child into the true definition of a shinobi, he watches as the flames of war are lit, but how long will the fire blaze when love calms her raging mind? Rated M for violence, language, sexual situations and self harming. ItaSaku, minor Sasusaku.
1. Chapter 1

**Ahh! Oh my god oh my god! So, this is my new story! *Shot in face* Yeah I know I shouldn't write more, I still have a story to finish. But I needed to get this out! So this story is about Sakura (Oh my god no way!), but not only our sweet pinkette! Just to let you know there will be some Sakura and Sasuke goodness for those of you who go for that, but also some Sakura and Itachi goodness. It's totally an Itachi Sakura story, but there will be Sasuke in there later on. Want to find out more? Read the story and you'll see!**

_**Thoughts~**_

**I do not own NARUTO, or Itachi would be naked, as would Sakura, it would be a Hentai, and there would be lots of it tehehe~**

* * *

Pain was all she could feel, not whether or not she was on the cold forest floor, or if she were on a soft bed. Every twitch of her fingers caused a silent scream to rip its way out of her, only adding to the amount of pain she felt.

All she could remember was asking Naruto and Sasuke if they had something to light the fire with. Sasuke had thrown something to her and then…Nothing but pain. Had…Had Sasuke done this to her? A choked sob came from her mouth as the pain in her right shoulder tripled.

"So you are awake…"

She tried to force her eyes open, to see who the deep voice belonged to, if he was the reason she felt so much pain in her shoulder. But it was pointless. The small amount she was able to see once her left eye cracked open was blurred.

"Do you hear me, kunoichi?"

She tried to speak, to tell him she could, but only accomplished opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water. A light gurgle left her throat, making her stomach clench tightly. Why in the hell had she just gurgled? Did something happen to her throat?

"I'll take that as a yes."

Her vision grew dark suddenly, causing her to gasp slightly for fear she'd pass back out, only to feel something warm lay over her eyes. Fingers lightly dragged her partly open lid closed, then disappeared.

She heard clothing move to her right, and felt something move off of her chest, assaulting her with cool air. A whimper left her as her body tensed, causing her hands to shake from the pain. She could feel her mind start to slip.

"You must rest." His voice took on a gentle tone as he spoke. "You have been hurt very badly; there is still a chance you might not make it through the night. I will do what I can to keep you safe…"

Every part of her brain told her to move, speak, anything. She'd been hurt, how? Was it Sasuke's fault? Did they get attacked or something? How did she know she could trust this man?

Something warm was laid over her right shoulder, a groan leaving her from the pain but oddly…It was soothing. She felt part of it lift, and then carefully be dragged across her flesh. A broken scream ripped its way out of her throat. _Oh gods stop!_

Blood assaulted her every sense, she was bleeding, since when? Perhaps it was what the man was talking about; he was trying to clean her shoulder as gently as he could.

She gagged as she felt the skin move with the cloth, flesh barely hanging to her body pulling with the material. Her stomach clenched, and to her utter embarrassment, she peed.

Tears spilled from her eyes, she wanted the pain to end so badly. Her fingers clenched to whatever they could, the pain only getting worse as her right arm moved. She laid her head back, she was done trying to be strong and hold in her pained yells; she had just pissed herself from the pain. Opening her mouth she let it all out, feeling the presence next to her tense as she let out a blood curdling scream. It was the last thing she remembered as her mind went blank and feel into the darkness.

The next time she came to, the pain had turned into a dull but constant throb. She had little to no trouble this time opening her eyes, and thankfully, her vision wasn't as blurry. But she was cold…

Birds chirped somewhere near by, chimes clinking only feet away, at least it sounded like they were only feet away. Mentally preparing herself from the onslaught of pain, she tried to move her head, only to be stopped by a warm hand resting itself against her forehead.

"Do not move kunoichi, save your strength."

She frowned, and was about to disobey as a large figure moved its way from her head down to her left side. He was old, if the wrinkles on his skin were anything to go by. His silver white hair was long and choppy, reminding her of the raven haired boy whom she had a crush on.

"It is good to see you're awake again…I was afraid you wouldn't wake."

"Wh…Wha-"

"As I said before, you have been badly wounded."

She watched as he turned himself and reached for something by her head. Before she had a chance to look, he held up a small clay cup, sliding his hand under the back of her neck.

Without a word he lifted her, placing the cup to her lips. Without hesitation she took a sip, stupid of her to not be cautious but…She was so thirsty. Pulling the cup away before she could take a second drink, he laid her head back down.

"Better?"

"H-hai…"

It burnt swallowing the water, but she did feel better. At least it didn't feel like she had cotton balls the size of her fist in her mouth.

"Please do not move, it took me quite some time to heal you, I do not wish to have to do it again so soon."

He set the glass down beside himself; turning his gaze below her face. Oh god was he looking at her chest!? Casting her eyes down, she couldn't see anything. Giving a small gasp she tilted her head down slightly until she could see a large blanket draped over her body, covering her chest. Thank god she was covered…

His hand suddenly in front of her face caused her to jump, a loud whimper leaving her. Gently he grabbed her chin, lifting her head back to where it was, his fingers lightly moving down her throat.

_This is why you don't trust strange old men, even if they save your life! Oh god oh god oh god…_Pain snapped her out of her thoughts as his fingers touched over her jugular. Was there a cut perhaps?

"It isn't deep, but you bled quite a bit from that spot. Be careful how you move, or it'll break open."

She didn't say anything, only glanced away from his form. She blushed; embarrassed she had just accused him of being a perverted old man that was taking advantage over her weakened form. He was just concerned she had broken open her wound by trying to look around.

"Do I have permission to look threw your belongings?"

Frowning, she turned her attention back to the old man, her eyebrows furrowing together. Had he really just asked her that, she figured he would have already?

"I do not want you to speak unless needed. I had not gone through your things to respect your privacy, but I wish to know what your name is."

She blinked, and gave as much of a nod as she could. She mentally winced as his eyes narrowed as her head moved, she should have just said sure…

He placed his hands on his knees and stood, the soft sounds of his bones creaking and popping making her wince for him. Slowly he moved away, shuffling sounds, then came back with her shuriken pouch…Covered in dirt and blood.

Her stomach tightened slightly, that was her blood isn't it? Laying the pouch in his lap; the old man popped open the button. There wasn't a lot inside, which was bad seeing as she was obviously supposed to be a kunoichi, but thankfully for him he was able to find a small pink wallet inside.

Grabbing it, he flipped it open to find the girls ID. He read it over carefully and turned his attention to the girl. She was so pale now, dark circles under her eyes.

"So your name is Haruno Sakura?"

"Hai."

Sakura winced as her voice cracked; her mouth was feeling dry again. Thankfully she didn't have to say anything; the old man had already put her pouch and wallet away and was lifting her head.

Taking a small sip, she waited for him to pull away the cup, only to find it still pressed to her lips. Relief flooded threw her as she happily took a larger drink. She was a little upset that he took the cup away after, but was glad she got more then a sip this time.

"T-time's it?"

"It is early morning. You have been asleep for three days."

He rested her head back down before putting the cup away, placing his hands on his knees as he looked to her. Sakura pressed her lips together as she glanced away, three whole days she's been out?

That means three days she's been missing, since she last saw her mom and dad, since she last showered or-

"You must rest now. I know you're confused, and I will answer your questions, but now you must sleep."

He rested his hand against her forehead, it was sad seeing her in such a weak and confused state, but she wouldn't get better if he let her do whatever. She didn't question him he noticed, her eyes slowly drifting closed as she let out a soft sigh.

Removing his hand he sat quietly, letting the sounds of the birds and wind chimes sooth her to sleep. Once her breathing evened out, he put away her pouch and wallet. Returning to his place by the wall he had been in before she awoke, he sat, watching over her as she slept.

* * *

It had been roughly four days since a certain pink haired kunoichi had been kidnapped, and to the tracking teams' disappointment, would probably never be found. A gloved hand pressed against the cool surface of the front door leading into the ANBU head quarters, lone footsteps echoing into the empty hall.

In all his seven years of being in ANBU, never had this member dreaded being in the corps. He's killed thousands of people within the first two years of joining, and made it to a captain of his own squad a year later, he should be able to handle something as simple as telling a young girls parents that they were giving up the search for her.

But it was different now…So much more different. He had never known the victim, or their parents, but this time he does. Her name was Haruno Sakura, only twelve years old, with not even twenty missions under her belt. She was also on the same squad as Uchiha Sasuke…His little brother.

"Itachi…?"

Said man stopped, almost jumping at the sudden sound of a male voice. Lifting his head to see who it was, Itachi was greeted by another masked member of ANBU, though he already knew who it was.

"Shisui." His voice sounded so dull to his own ears as he spoke.

The older mans shoulders dropped slightly as Itachi spoke, the younger able to see the sadden expression on his older cousins face even through the mask he wore.

"They've stopped the search haven't they?"

A small nod was Shisui's only response. He turned his face away from his cousin, closing his left eye tightly as he took a deep breath. They were supposed to be in a time of peace, yet they were still losing so many people

"She was so young, so…" _Not us._ Itachi's thoughts finished what Shisui didn't.

"Was it Danzō's idea to end the search?"

"It was an agreement between all members of the counsel…He wasn't the one to suggest ending the search."

Itachi could hear his cousin let out a deep sigh. Would it have made it better if Danzō had been the one to suggest they forget about the girl? He didn't think so.

After the he had taken Shisui's right eye and ordered Itachi to slaughter his own family, Shisui looked for any reason he could to bust the old man. The older man would never admit it, but he had actually been given on several different occasions to do so, but Danzō was an important part of the village counsel.

"We need to tell her parents."

Shisui spoke softly, but Itachi had heard him clearly. His stomach gave a slight twist at the thought of telling the two that they'd never see their only child again. It was something he seriously wanted to avoid, but knew he couldn't.

"Have someone send for them so I can speak with them-"

"-Itachi." Said man did nothing, but waited for the other to continue.

"…Let me tell them." Shisui lifted his hand, knowing his cousins' eyes had narrowed a fraction. "I know you're uncomfortable with this, so let me tell them. It'll be easier if you tell Kakashi's squad."

Oh how wrong you are…

Itachi gave a short nod, silently thanking yet cursing his cousin. He wouldn't have to deal with hysterical parents, yes, but he could barely handle looking at Sasuke's face right now, not with how the boys'attitude has been lately. Before anything else could be said, Shisui turned and walked away, leaving the younger Uchiha alone with himself.

Letting out a slow breath, Itachi made his way down the hall and turned, making his way towards the questioning rooms. They were used for questioning criminals, and in Itachi's opinion improper for breaking such bad news to family members, but if not these rooms then where? He felt his fingers twitch at the thought of doing it in the interrogation rooms; yeah he'll take the questioning rooms over the one with blood staining the walls.

* * *

Itachi stood with his head turned to the side, the sound of sobbing clawing at him like knives. The poor woman, Mebuki, had already been near tears when she and her husband Kizashi had arrived. Shisui had barely gotten out that the searched ended when she had let the tears fall.

Turning his head slightly to the two-way mirror, he could see Mebuki collapsed onto the ground, clutching her chest as she cried, Kizashi's head buried into her back as his body shook. He had meant to try and comfort her, and it must have hit him in that moment his daughter was gone.

"Itachi-san, squad Kakashi is waiting for you."

Itachi said nothing as he turned, pushing the door open and exiting the room. As the door clicked closed Itachi was yet again left alone in the silence, and he happily welcomed it. He took a moment, just standing there with his hand against the closed door, breathing deeply.

Watching Mebuki and Kizashi wasn't pleasant, it had frayed his nerves. Pulling his hand back to his side, the Uchiha made his way down the hall to the room he knew Sakura's team would be waiting in.

Naruto wasn't amazingly smart, but the kid would have been able to tell that something was wrong if he hadn't taken a moment to collect himself. Pushing open the door to the designated room, Itachi was met with Ibiki, Anko and the Sandaime Hokage watching the missing girls' squad through the two-way mirror. Anko was the first to turn her head, eyeing the Uchiha as he walked over.

"Sure you should go in? You did tell her parents after all, no need to push it."

"Shisui told them."

Itachi stopped between her and the Hokage, glancing at the old man from the corner of his eyes. He looked guilty, and Itachi knew why. It hadn't been Danzō to suggest the search be put off, it was the Hokage himself. He knew what it was like waiting day after day for a missing family member, only to never see them again; the older man knew it would slowly kill her parents to leave such hope like that. Yet it wasn't completely right to take away all their hope in such a way.

Knowing he had delayed enough, Itachi made his way to the door on his right, grabbing a hold of the knob and pushing the door open. Naruto's head snapped up as soon as the knob had turned, Sasuke's slowly lifting, followed by Kakashi.

Letting the door close behind him, Itachi made his way over to a single chair across the table from the three, their backs facing what looked like a mirror. The blonde leaned forward in his seat as Itachi sat, lifting his hand to remove his mask.

"Itachi! What's going on, why are we here? I thought we already answered all of your questions!"

The blonde didn't waist time, almost knocking over his chair as he stood, bombarding the ANBU member before he even set his mask on the table. To be honest Itachi had expected the questioning to start as soon as the door opened.

"Naruto-kun, sit down."

Itachi's voice was stern, but he kept it as gentle as he could without revealing anything. The boy puffed out his cheeks and lowered himself back into his seat, Sasuke giving an unsatisfied snort for the outburst.

Itachi turned his gaze to their sensei, Kakashi's eye glued to the table. The silver haired Jōnin looked as if he hadn't slept in days, which would be accurate considering for the first few days he scouted for Sakura non stop.

Letting out an inaudible sigh, Itachi folded his hands together on top of the table, leaning his weight onto his forearms slightly.

"To answer your question Naruto-kun, you and the others have answered all of ours. That is not why you are here."

Itachi turned his gaze to the boys, Naruto leaning forward in his seat as Sasuke sat straighter. If they weren't there to answer anything, then why were they there? Naruto's mouth opened slightly as his eyes widened. Slamming his hands onto the table he kicked over his chair as he stood.

"Did you find her!? Where is she, where's Sakura-chan?"

Itachi pulled back slightly as Naruto stood, almost wishing the boy had asked if she were dead instead if they had found her. At least he could have worked with that a little better…

"Naruto-kun…We-"

"-Naruto you need to know the chances of finding her alive are slim…"

It was Kakashi who spoke, causing the other three to look to him. Slowly he lifted his head to look at the blonde, who was about to burst with the lack of any kind of news. Kakashi felt himself want to hide himself in his house as Naruto's face fell slightly.

"What are you saying sensei…?"

How weak the blondes question sounded made both Kakashi and Itachi want to leave, to have someone else have this conversation with him. The longer it took anyone to say anything the more anger Naruto felt.

"What are you saying?"

"Naruto-kun."

Itachi was a little more relaxed when Naruto turned to him. Not because the now seething boy was glaring at him, but because the last thing Kakashi needed was a missing and possibly dead student over his head, and then one that thought it was his fault.

"As you know, as soon as we got word of what happened we began the search immediately." He motioned for the boy to sit, thankful he obeyed and plopped himself down once his chair was righted. "After taking both you and Sasuke back here, my squad followed Kakashi-san to help track her sent."

The boy was listening intently, Sasuke even looking more interested. Did he really care what happened to his only female teammate, or was he just faking it? Discreetly pressing his thumb nail into the side of his finger, he forced himself to continue.

"After an hour or so of searching, we found blood. Kakashi-san had Pakkun summoned already, who was able to identify the blood as Sakura-san's."

Naruto paled, both his and Sasuke's eyes widening slightly. Naruto couldn't believe it, what had that man, the bandit, done to Sakura? It felt like someone was slowly pushing their fist into his stomach.

"We kept pursuit, from what we could tell the blood wasn't that old, we could catch up. It took us another twenty minutes until we came to a stop. A tree had several of its branches broken off, and upon closer inspection noticed more blood…"

He paused, not because he wanted to, he just stopped. Naruto's hands shook lightly as he stared at him, a small spark of hope in his blue eyes. Sasuke was practically on the edge of his seat, something close to guilt flashing across his face.

"I'm sorry…" Itachi finally found his voice. "But with the amount of blood found, Sakura-san wouldn't have survived more then a minute."

A shaky breath wheezed its way out of Naruto as his face scrunched up slightly, tears threatening to fall as they formed in his eyes. Sasuke swallowed hard, his throat and mouth suddenly as dry as Suna's deserts.

"Are you saying…?"

Itachi looked to his little brother, only offering him a nod as an answer. Naruto let out a choked sob as the tears fulfilled their threat and fell, Sasuke's face paling as the realization dawned on him.

Sakura; the girl who had fawned over him throughout the Academy and their time together as a team, who had stabbed him in the back and withdrew from the Chūnin Exams because she was frightened, was practically dead.

He knew if they had found her body Itachi would have said so, that she was either gravely wounded or dead. By not saying anything, his older brother was telling them they had failed to find her body, but will claim her as dead judging by what they had seen.

Seeing Kakashi's hand lift, Itachi watched as the man hesitated before grabbing the shaking blondes shoulder, only earning more tears from the boy. Itachi stood as the Jōnin's eye clenched closed. He was close to this team, but this wasn't his place. He couldn't offer comfort to them, he had failed to return the pinkette.

"I'm sorry for your loss…"

His voice was empty of emotion as he spoke. Itachi waited for no reply as he turned, grabbing his mask and making his way to the door. Once outside he let out a small breath, closing his eyes and replacing the mask on his face. He hoped he never had to do something like this ever again, if he did he was tempted to off himself.

* * *

Itachi had never dreaded going home so much in his whole life. He didn't want to be the one to tell his mother the bad news; he'd done it already when Sasuke and Naruto had turned up without Sakura, claiming they had been attacked.

After the incident five years ago, where Itachi had been ordered by Danzō to murder the Uchiha, and failed to do so, Haruno Mebuki and her family were the first ones to set aside what they had heard and befriend the Uchiha.

The raven had made himself sick thinking of his orders, to kill his loved ones all himself. Danzō had said he could do it, but Itachi had doubted himself. He had almost completely drowned out that doubt when he went looking for his cousin, Shisui. That's when Itachi found him, hiding away from the village with blood running down his face from the empty socket that once used to have an eye in it. When Shisui explained Danzō had taken it, the young Uchiha's mind went blank.

When his elder cousin explained what it was he wanted Itachi to do, to take his remaining eye, he refused. Then began the lecture of how this was the only way, but a small part of Itachi was adamant that this shouldn't happen. But it had to, this hatred that surrounded the Uchiha needed to end.

No had left Itachi's mouth without him thinking, against his will. He had been moments away from agreeing to what Shisui had said, so why?...Why had he so easily refused to heal his clan, it was the only way…Or was it?

Itachi removed his keys from his right pocket, thumbing through each until he found the correct one. Pushing, or more like forcing, the key into the lock, the raven pushed his way into the apartment. He knew Shisui wouldn't mind if he stayed here for a while, the man didn't ever have company really, so he'd welcome the young man with open arms.

Slamming the door behind him closed, he made his way through the black living room, and into the kitchen, flipping on the overhead light. After giving the light a moment to flicker to life, Itachi gave a long sigh; Shisui's place was a mess. Not so much in the sense the man didn't clean, but the apartment was falling down around him.

After securing himself a glass of water, when the water had finally turned clear, Itachi sat himself down in one of the rickety old chairs at the table. When should he head home he wondered…Probably later then he should. After several long moments of silence, Itachi's attention was brought to the front door, hearing his cousin pushing his way inside.

"Good to see you made yourself at home."

"Aa…I wanted to avoid going home for as long as I could."

Shusui gave a small nod as he made his way through his home, plopping down into a chair across the table from Itachi.

"I don't blame you. Mikoto-kā was really upset just hearing Sakura-chan was missing, she'll take this bit worse. Maybe she'll have Sasuke go check on Mebuki-san and Kizashi-san."

Itachi gave a snort at the idea, earning a chuckle from the older man. Itachi's mother would have to practically force Sasuke into that position, though a look from their father and the boy would do as told.

"Perhaps he needs to."

"Do you think it'd change his attitude if he did?"

Shisui leaned back in his chair as he watched his cousin. Itachi said nothing, thinking it over. Since Sakura disappeared he didn't seem worried, and had voiced his doubts on her being able to take care of herself. The boy didn't care for her, which worried Itachi greatly.

On one hand, with how Sasuke's personality has been, watching the Haruno family mourn and shatter could strengthen his resolve that emotions hinder the person. That Sakura's whole family was weak, there for ensuring that the girl would have been weak no matter what. On second hand…

"Let's hope it does."

Shisui gave a nod as I lifted the eye patch on his right eye, rubbing the pad of his thumb over the stitches keeping the lid closed. He hated the damn thing; his whole right side was vulnerable like this.

"How's your eye?"

"You mean the lack there of? It's alright; the stitches just itch every so often is all."

Itachi shot Shisui a disproving look, the only reason they itched was because his elder cousin refused to leave them alone. It seemed like he'd constantly mess with the patch, or feel the stitching.

"The hospital offered to find you a donor eye."

Replacing the patch the elder Uchiha gave a heavy sigh. He'd refused when he had been taken to the hospital. He had been tempted to out Danzō when he had been questioned what happened, but to claim one of the village elders had stolen your eye, it'd be far to troublesome.

It had been after the two boys went to the Hokage, telling him that Danzō had given Itachi the mission to kill the clan. The Sandaime had asked both of the boys not to say anything about what Danzō had done, and that he would handle breaking the news to their clan. And he had, he gotten Fugaku and the clan elders into his office within moments, explaining what had happened.

The Uchiha had gone into a rage, promising revenge, when Itachi had spoken. He had broken every rule his clan had in place, locked horns with the clan head and elders, but had opened their eyes to what was happening. Though it took some time, the Sandaime, Itachi and Shisui had begged them to think of the younger generation of the Uchiha. They had won, getting them to see that they would not survive if they continued, not only because the village would be against them, but their heir as well.

"I don't want someone else's eye…Not that I'd prefer an Uchiha's eye, I just would feel too weird knowing some dead dudes eyeball was in my head."

"You have a morbid way of thinking about this…"

The elder smirked slightly and nodded his head. It was morbid, he'd admit that, but he was fine like he was. Blind spot or not, he was still Shunshin no Shisui, there was no way he'd fail on a mission.

"Anyway, enough about me. How about you? How's your sweet little-"

"-I'm not here to talk about my relationship. If I were, I was better off going home where mother could hound me."

Shushi's head fell back as he laughed; it was so fun teasing his little cousin. Ever since Itachi had turned sixteen, the clan had immediately brought up him marrying his girlfriend of only three years.

Both had avoided the conversation completely, and Shisui kind of had a feeling he knew why. Itachi cared deeply for his girlfriend, but anyone who looked closely could see things weren't going as well as they thought. Both had grown away from each other, but were too afraid to leave. The clan would have a field day, and the girls' family would probably disown her for breaking up with the clan heads eldest son.

"Go to bed, you look tired."

"Your one to talk, you were in a meeting with the Hokage all morning."

Shisui stood as he spoke, he was tired. Watching the Haruno family break down like they did was taxing enough on its own, not to mention he had a short mission right after.

"Stay as long as you like Itachi."

Said man gave a small nod in thanks as Shisui made his way out of the kitchen. Listening to his cousin's disappearing foot steps, Itachi lifted his untouched glass to his lips and took a drink. He was tempted to almost spit the water back out, it had a rather raunchy stench, but he settled with a small sip.

"You seriously need to get a new place Shisui…"

* * *

Three days had passed, three long, and pain filled days. She was happy that the old man was there each time she woke up, to know that she was being taken care of. But her heart broke each time her eyes opened and it wasn't her mother and father she saw.

Today was no different, though the disappointment seemed more prominent. She had been too tired to ask the old man his name, but today that was her goal. Not to fill her stomach with food or water, not to move her arm, but to just ask what his name was.

As the man removed the soiled bandages from Sakura's shoulder, he laid the foul smelling material to his left, away from her. Were they supposed to smell that bad…?

"Ne…Ojīsan, what's your name?"

Her voice was small, so small she didn't think he'd heard her with the way he continued with his work. Though she didn't mind too much, she didn't really want to see the still gapping would on her right shoulder.

"Call me whatever you'd like, Sakura-san."

His eyebrow rose as she huffed, a grimace on her face at the puff of air she blew onto her shoulder.

"I wanted to know what to call you…And when I go back home, okāsan and otōsan will want to thank you. Not to mention Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, and…"

She frowned slightly. Would Sasuke be thankful she came back, that it was thanks to this mysterious old man that she survived?

"And?"

The elder man raised his eyebrow curiously as the pinkette stopped abruptly, her eyebrows furrowed in thought. Looking back to the girls shoulder, he shifted the thin sheet covering her chest, which had been requested by the girl, farther away from the wound.

He didn't say anything to her about it, but he was worried that an infection had begun to set in her, seeing how the skin was still swollen and rather tender.

"I don't think he'd really care if I came back or not…"

"Who wouldn't?"

Her head turned away as she let out a deep sigh. He'd rather not know, but he was bored as hell and with her as jumpy as she was around him, he'd rather have her completely distracted by spewing some crap about her life.

"Sasuke-kun…The boy I like."

The old mans hands paused as he reached for the disinfectant. Oh sweet mother of god it was a boy she liked…She was going to start crying wasn't she?

"I'd always liked him since we were in the Academy together, but he'd never paid attention to me…I never really cared though, I knew I'd have a chance to prove myself if I was able to get on the same squad as him. To my amazement I was put on his squad."

She gave a small smile as she looked at the wall to her left, away from the man. Thankfully so since every word she spoke his face got more and more annoyed, he did NOT save her so he could listen to her talk about her so called boyfriend!

"What happened after that?" He mentally slapped himself for even asking.

"He still acted like I didn't really exist, except for when there was danger, then he just acted like I was the weak link…And he was right."

Her voice grew soft as her eyes watered slightly. The old man stopped to look at the pinkette, his hands holding a brownish bottle and a soaked cloth full of disinfectant.

"He was right and I should have never entered the Chūnin Exams, but I would have been ruining his dream…"

Ok so he was a little interested, and he was mentally kicking himself in the ass for it. He was confused on how all of this fit together, but he was pretty sure the girl next to him would be more then happy to fill him in.

"What happened at the Exams?"

She let out a little sigh, her eyes closing briefly.

"Someone attacked us and both Naruto and Sasuke-kun were out of commission…I was so afraid of someone was going to attack, that when ANBU came looking for that person that had attacked us, I begged them to take us out of the Exams…"

"So without consulting your team you withdrew." It was a statement, not a question.

The old man was startled as Sakura's head snapped to the side, bright green eyes glaring up at him with nothing but hate, but then flashed guilt.

"I had no choice!" Her voice broke a little. "I wouldn't have been able to protect them, they would have died! Then what about their dreams? They'd be over, and that would have been my fault!"

She gave a small wince as she tried to push herself up, a pained gasp leaving her as her hair brushed over the top of her shoulder into the wound. Quickly pressing his hand to her abdomen, he pushed her onto her back.

So she had done it because she knew her limit, she was smart. Not many shinobi, including young kunoichi, knew what their limit was. When he had been young he'd watch as mere eight year olds took on those who had been lucky enough to make it to their teen years. They'd buried more children that way then the war it seemed.

"If you're smart enough to see your limits then, you should be smart enough to see them now."

A small frown tugged at her lips as she looked up into his deep coal eyes. She didn't want to see her limitation, it was too hard. She knew she was hurt, she wasn't that stupid, she just didn't want to believe that she was weak enough she couldn't make it home.

Before she had a chance to speak again the old man placed the soaking cloth to her shoulder, causing a choked yell to rip out of her. His hand pressed to her left shoulder to keep her from moving away, his other firmly, yet gently holding the cloth to the wound as it seeped its medicine into her body.

"When I was a boy, you worked past your limitations."

Watery green eyes found their way up to his wrinkled face, his eyes firmly glued to what he was doing.

"When I was a boy," He removed the cloth and replaced it with another, "You become stronger in different ways. If you are weak at Genjutsu, train your Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. Weak Taijutsu, train Genjutsu and Ninjutsu, and so on."

"I don't understand…"

A deep sigh left the older man as he removed the second cloth, setting it in a pile to be discarded later. He took his time putting together a good way to explain to the girl what he was trying to say, her shoulder had enough time to 'air out', it needed bandaged.

Grabbing a cotton ball he soaked it in a small dish full of herbal liquid. Sakura had asked him what it was made out of, but he had told her it was a secret, and it was. He didn't want anyone knowing his precious secrets!

"You will have to train very hard for a very long time in order to get your arm close to how it was."

Carefully lifting the cotton ball with a pair of tweezers, he gently placed it inside of her wound. He could tell she was trying to hold back whimpers, and he was proud of her for being so strong about this.

"After you are able to move your arm, you'll have to begin to train your mind and body in ways to protect you disability."

She gave a short nod as the elderly man spread the cotton through her wound, carefully placing a gauze pad over the wound to hold it in place. Letting out a small gasp as she was lifted slightly, she did what she could to hide her bare body with the thin sheet she had been given, letting her body be wrapped up.

He was a very secretive person Sakura noted quietly, but kind at the same time. She was thankful he had found her, and she'd forever be in his debt.

"Ne…Ojīsan?"

"Aa?"

She gave a sad smile at his reply, biting back a groan as he helped her lay back on her futon. His small replies reminded her so much of Sasuke, and it hurt to think of him. Almost as much as her wound…Almost.

"Will you train me?"

His hands froze above her form as he readjusted the sheet on her body, slowly pulling away to look up at her still pale face.

"What?" He couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Will you train me?...I know it's a lot to ask, especially after you went out of you way to save me…But I want to be stronger!"

He said nothing as he watched for the millionth time as tears filled her eyes, but it was different somehow. She was determined, not wallowing in self pity. She was one hundred percent serious about this.

"You are aware if I agree you will come to hate me…"

"Even if I do, I owe you my life. I'll do everything in my power, now and in the future, to help you in any way I can."

The tears still shone brightly in her eyes, but they held even more determination each second that passed.

Placing his hands onto his knees he leaned back, studying the girl. He could see her grow uncomfortable the longer he stared at her, but she refused to look away. If he agreed, would he gain anything from this?...A smile tugged at his lips, he'd gain everything he needed.

"You must rest, Sakura-san."

He stood, gathering the dirtied bandages as he did so. A panicked gasp came from the girl as she tried to push her left arm under her to sit up, sweat gathering on her broad forehead.

"B-but wait-!"

"If I am to help you, you must rest."

He smirked as Sakura blinked at him almost dumbly, realization dawning on her as hope filled her eyes and a smile pulling at her lips.

"You have a long road to recovery. As soon as I'm sure you're healed, we will begin your training."

"H-hai!"

Sakura couldn't hide the excitement in her voice as he turned away from her, making his way to the door and outside. Once the door closed she let herself fall back onto the futon, grunting in pain at how her shoulder jostled. She happily pushed that from her mind, staring at the plain ceiling as she clutched the sheet at her chest.

Starting tomorrow she'd do exactly as the old man said, starting tomorrow she'd eat not only all of her food, but take fewer naps through the day. Starting tomorrow, she'd push herself past her limitations. She'd finally be able to call herself a kunoichi and be able to prove it to everyone.

* * *

**AN:**

**So there totally will be a time skip after this, just to let you know. I didn't know for sure how much of Pre Shippuden I should do, and I actually went pretty far back, all the way into the Chūnin Exams, but went against that. I figured it'd be better to fill you in as the story went along. And hopefully, HOPEFULLY I was able to do that, the same with the whole Uchiha thing. There will still be more on that later on. I have a killer migraine, I'm helping my mother move into a new house with my sister, and I'm finding my cat a new home. Everything's a total disaster…I'm not having a lot of time to proof read this chapter since I'm on such a short time crunch, my internets going out soon and I still have so much to do before I wake up at…Oh god, at 7 in the morning…Yaaaaaay, 2 days of getting 5 hours of sleep. *Sarcasm* Now to get on Heaven in Hell, I have it part way finished (I have like 1 page written). I should get some fan art for this story done at some point hopefully. I have a picture done I'll use as the cover for the story, which I might not have a link to show a better version of it because I'm pretty sure my commissioners on DeviantArt will kill me if I post something besides what they asked for. But yeah, this is going to have badass Sakura at some point. Sasuke won't have left the village because, well, yeah his family is alive. But anyway! Please tell me what you think through a review, they make me happy and want to write. If you see anything like a typo or grammar error, let me know and I will fix it! Now I better hurry off because I think my mom's about to eat my brain, she's so stressed! Fav and review!**

**Li**


	2. Chapter 2

**Another chapter dooone! I felt so freaking loved by all the reviews, follows and favs, I did a little dance while like trying not to cry. I'm such a sap! xD But anyway! This chapter like I said had a time skip by about a year, and it's a little shorter then the last chapter. But please read now because I want to know what you think!**

_Thoughts~_

**I don't own NARUTO or people would be feeling Itachi up ALL the time, hehe~**

* * *

How long had it been since she left her bed, styled her hair, ate something besides instant ramen, or even went to talk to her friends? She had no idea, and to be honest she really didn't care. Over the past year she'd found herself trying to sleep the day away, to forget her pain.

Letting out a low sigh, she lifted herself up right and ran her hand through her greasy tangled hair. She needed a shower, and badly. But the amount of energy that would take would be too much, getting to her living room once a day was taxing enough.

Pushing off the thin sheets and sliding her feet onto the floor, green eyes scanned over pale thin legs. She hadn't tried to exercise at all, and it was really showing. Though, it probably didn't have a lot to do with her lack of exercise as it did her lack of eating.

"Mebuki…"

The woman jumped from her thoughts, glancing to her left to the open bedroom door. In the doorway stood her husband, Kizashi, or at least someone who looked like him. His hair was far paler, to the point you could barely tell it was a magenta color in his youth, and his eyes were so dull…

"Mikoto-san invited us to dinner."

"What time?"

Her voice croaked as she spoke, the look Kizashi sent her told her that she had slept the majority of the day away, that it was almost time to eat. Giving a soft nod she pushed herself to her feet, shuffling over to their shared closet.

"I'll find you something to wear, just go shower hun."

Mebuki stopped as her husband's hand rested against her stomach, lightly turning her by the shoulders to the bathroom. He was so gentle with her, sometimes it was so infuriating, like she was some civilian and not the kunoichi she was. But then again she was grateful…She needed that gentle hand that he gave her, and he needed it to. If only she were stronger to do that for him…

She felt numb as she walked to the shower, stripping her clothes off as she went. That's all she ever felt when she wasn't sleeping, unending numbness and misery. What she wouldn't give to turn time back to the fateful morning her beautiful daughter left on her final mission.

She stopped mid step and closed her eyes, the burning of tears stinging behind her lids. Now was not the time, she needed to keep herself numb so she could get ready in a timely fashion. She could mourn after dinner.

Flipping on the bathroom light and wandering to the shower, Mebuki twisted the knob and stepped in without checking to see if the water was warm, gasping at the cold spray hitting her. Shivering a little violently she poured shampoo on the top of her head, scratching her nails on her scalp to work in the pine forest gel. She never used this shampoo, she preferred the smell of the ocean, but this was her daughters' favorite product.

Once her hair was sufficiently covered in bubbles, she pushed her head under the torrent of water, squeezing her eyes closed to keep the shampoo from getting in her eyes and reddening them. She was tempted to wash her hair three times, because in her opinion it was still filthy after the second wash. But Kizashi had stopped her.

He had climbed in the shower behind her, pushing his way under the water and demanding she clean her body. An agitated sigh left her as she spun on her heals, scrubbing at her flesh until she was bright red. She wanted to look presentable, like she did before her child's death, but nothing she did helped her appearance.

"Mebuki you're clean."

Large hands grabbed her thin shoulders, squeezing lightly as her arms went limp to her sides. She wasn't clean, she was still filthy! Sakura would have been so embarrassed being seen with her, especially going to the Uchiha's home, the home her crush lived at.

"…I don't want to go."

Her voice was thick with pain, causing the man behind her to flinch. He was afraid he'd lose his wife along with his daughter, he wouldn't be able to survive that, he knew it.

"Mikoto-san's worked hard Mebuki, it would be rude to not show."

"I don't care! I can't go!"

"Mebuki!"

Said woman flinched as Kizashi's voice boomed behind her. He shouldn't have raised his voice, but he knew she needed to stop. Wrapping his arms around her small body he held her tightly, resting his head on her shoulder gently.

"I'm sorry…" No reply as his wife stared at the wall. "Both of us know we need to go to this dinner."

He gave her shoulder a soft kiss as her body relaxed, a small sigh leaving her. The dinner was needed, Mabuki never left the house and Kizashi was always on missions, they needed this to breathe clearly. When his wife made no move to say anything Kizashi sighed, pulling away, he seriously didn't want to cancel the fourteenth dinner Mikoto had made for them.

"I'll go get dressed…"

Blue eyes blinked as they followed the woman in front of him who climbed out of the shower, grabbing a towel to dry off. Broad shoulders slouched as the man let out a sigh, thankful Mebuki finally caved.

* * *

"Itachi did you get the good dishes out!?"

Said man let out a tired groan. Yes he'd gotten out the good china, three times already. He had forgotten that his mother loved collecting old dishes, labeling them for different occasions. He found himself whishing Kizashi would call already to cancel, but with the time he doubted it. There was only an hour left before dinner would start.

"Hai kā-san!"

"Which ones did you grab!?"

His head dropped as he suppressed a laugh. He still had yet to get ready, and he was running all over the house grabbing dishes, washing them, only to put them away again.

"Mikoto, let the boy get ready!"

"Oh…Alright, take a shower and wear something nice sweetie!"

A snort left him as he sighed softly. Itachi had a hard time getting along with his father, but he was thankful for the man in times like these. Watching as the brown haired man walked into the room and took the box of dishes; the younger of the two mumbled a quick thank you and went for the stairs.

The farther up the stairs he went the quieter thing seemed to get, no Mikoto yelling for which dishes are out, Fugaku barking at the boys to obey the lady Uchiha, or Sasuke and Naruto screaming at each other.

If only Shisui were here, he'd be able to make some sort of peace in the chaotic house, but the man was on a mission. What he wouldn't give to be on a mission right now…

"I don't hear the shower running!"

Itachi tripped and grabbed the wall for support, a chuckle rumbling through his chest. He hadn't had time to get his clothes from his room yet, he had almost, almost forgotten how bossy his mother was, not to mention impatient. Choosing to not reply, the man dug through his drawers for his underwear, then his closet for something comfortable but nice.

Quickly making his way to the bathroom his let his hair out from its ponytail, running his hand through to rip out a few knots. Dropping the clean change of clothes on the counter, he turned on the shower, stripping out of his clothes as he waited for the water to heat up.

Itachi used to always look forward to these types of dinners. If he wasn't on a mission he'd sit back with Kakashi and Shisui, watching the parents' gossip and children embarrass each other to the tenth degree. But there was no Kakashi, he had left the life of a Jōnin and returned to the ANBU, and Shisui had been called for several missions to the point the man was rarely ever in the village. There was no gossiping between adults, just sot murmurs of apology, and no teasing of children.

Jumping into the shower Itachi quickly washed himself, not wanting to anger his mother with dilly dallying. Throwing a towel onto his head once the shower was turned off, he set to work drying his hair and body, climbing out. His shower was five minutes at most, so he didn't have to really worry about hurrying. All he needed to wait for was his hair to dry completely.

Dressing himself virtually one handed, Itachi continued to dry is hair, tossing the damp towel to switch to a dry one. He'd rather cut off his arm then use a hair drier, which he was sure his mother would demand he do once he went back down.

The muscles in his back tensed as hands slammed themselves onto the door repeatedly, a low growl leaving the man as he glared back at the door.

"Come on Itachi-san, your dilly dallying~"

Itachi was tempted to slam the door open and have the wood hit the blonde boy on the other side in the face. A yelp and thump sounded though before he had the chance to reach for the knob, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"Move it Dobe we still need dressed!"

Thank god for Sasuke…For the most part. After what happened a year ago the boy had withdrawn more from people, the only one he hadn't was from Naruto. Both boys clung to each other like they were their life lines. Itachi was truly grateful for the boy for that reason; he kept his younger brother out of trouble.

After quickly drying off the mirrors and the shower Itachi made his way from the bathroom, running to his room to dump off the dirty clothes and making his was back down stairs. The house smelled wonderful, Mikoto was making a curry if he remembered right.

Both Fugaku and he had warmed the lady Uchiha about making curry, but she insisted it was not the same. Before Sakura had disappeared the Haruno family had invited the Uchiha, Naruto and Kakashi to their home. Mebuki had served a sweet red curry, where Mikoto was making a spicy yellow curry. The Haruno family dinner had not gone well.

It was only a few weeks after the Chūnin Exams had ended, and it was the adults' way of showing the young pink haired girl none of them blamed her for pulling out, but thanked her instead and saved their lives. She was so shy through the dinner; she refused to look any of them in the eye or to say anything.

When the adults' said their piece she had flashed a shy smile and thanked them softly. Naruto having boasted that she was still strong, that making such a hard choice showed strength and compassion. Everyone was truly impressed with the blondes' speech, and it greatly improved on Sakura's attitude. Though when it had come to Sasuke…

He had cursed her, damned her to the darkest depths of hell. It had visibly destroyed her. Not only was he her crush, but he was also a goal. To better herself; to be able to stand next to both he and Naruto on even ground. And with what he had said, crumbled every dream she had.

Sasuke had stormed from the families home before he was able to see the tears fall down her face, her body shudder with sobs. Itachi had leapt up and ran after his brother, pulling him to a stop a few yards from the home, and effectively embarrassed him in public. That's when Itachi had seen the hate in his brother, hate for something so small.

Itachi shook the memories from his mind as he made his way to the dinning room, his father setting the table with the dishes he first picked out…He gave a defeated sigh as Fugaku gave him a grunt in response, the lady Uchiha was such a handful…

"Is Shisui not coming again?"

"No, he has another mission."

Itachi turned to his mother as he spoke. She was dressed in a black and silver kimono, one that was probably far too formal for a dinner with friends, but no one dared to say anything. Letting out a small huff she rested her freshly cleaned hands on her hips, giving a small nod.

"Alright. Dinners simmering now and should be done by the time they get here. Could you go to the basement and get some of the expensive sakē in there?"

"Already got it and put it in the fridge."

Fugaku sighed tiredly as he stood from the table, turning to his wife as her cheeks puffed out slightly. Her hands flew into the air suddenly, catching both men off guard as she gasped out, a hand flying to her chest.

"Kizashi-san doesn't like chilled sa-"

"I left some out so it can be heated…Calm down Mikoto, sit."

A huff left her as Fugaku grabbed his wife's arm, pulling her to the table and sitting her down. The woman would have an aneurism at any moment if he didn't make her sit and relax. Then again she won't relax, she never does.

"Sasuke, Naruto-kun, are you two done yet!?"

"For the love of God woman sit quietly…"

Fugaku was met with a glare, Itachi suppressing a laugh as he turned and walked out of the room. Who knew the stoic Uchiha family was actually so lively?

* * *

"Had dinner really gone that badly…?"

The timid voice of Hinata was the first to speak. Both Naruto and Sasuke, mostly Naruto, had just told the Rookie Nine about the events of last nights dinner. Apparently the dishes Mikoto had used were Sakura's favorite, which Mebuki knew and had begun to cry. The lady Uchiha had felt horrible, the reason she couldn't decide on the dishes was because she knew Sakura liked one a lot, and didn't want to use those to stop Mebuki from feeling the loss of her daughter.

"It was over dishes, what kind of person cries over a dish pattern?"

About every person had snapped their heads to Sasuke, their eyes thin. He's was taken aback by the glares, sending one back towards them.

"What your problem?"

"Come on dude she lost her only kid, grow a heart!"

A soft but deepening bark followed after Kiba in agreement. Sasuke hated being ganged up on like this and everyone was doing it constantly now days. He was too hard on Sakura, too heartless about her death, and too mean to her mourning family. He was about to snap if someone else told him to show more compassion!

"He's right you know, it has been a year. She's had plenty of time to mourn."

Sasuke's shoulders dropped. Alright if the Yamanaka Ice Bitch was now agreeing with him, he really should show more compassion. After the announcement of Sakura's death the blonde girl had changed.

The Rookie Nine would agree that though Sakura didn't really stand out from any of them, she defiantly had an influence on them. Like with Ino…What happened to the bandages, on your legs even? Is she even wearing underwear? And is that a push up bra…

"I feel the same pain as Mebuki-san! To lose your only child…No! To say I feel the same pain is disrespectful, her pain is greater then mine."

The group jumped at the sudden intrusion of a voice, turning to see a black haired boy clad in green spandex. They should have guessed it was Lee; the kid seemed to pop up whenever the pinkette was mentioned.

"Lee's right, she's probably going to mourn for a very long time. Didn't you guys say Sakura was the only kid they could have?"

"They only wanted one…So after her they got fixed."

Hinata's sweet little voice answered Tenten's question as the older girl plopped down on the bench. Tenten didn't know Sakura well, but from what she could see her death was a huge blow, even to the village.

"What happened? I've only heard a few things but their mostly rumors…"

"We never wanted to ask because we didn't know if it was our place."

Both Lee and Tenten had been bursting at the seams; they wanted to know what had happened. Genin weren't allowed to leave for a mission unless their Jōnin sensei plus another were present. God forbid if they had to go anywhere away from the village that was over a day long, you'd think they were in a war.

"Sakura-chan, Teme and I were setting up camp while Kakashi-sensei set up a perimeter. He'd warned us that a few bandits were going to try and attack the Daimyō, but they weren't just bandits…"

"Kakashi was still out of camp when this guy attacked." Naruto was startled as Sasuke took over, leaning against a wall of the building behind him. "He grabbed Sakura and told us if we tried to follow that he'd kill her. When he went to take off she tripped and the kunai he was holding stabbed into her shoulder."

Sasuke tapped his right shoulder to show where, Lee turning the same color as his clothes. Naruto's eyes narrowed as Sasuke spoke so nonchalantly about what happened, he still didn't understand that they could have followed, they could have saved her!

"She probably tried to fight back at some point and got stabbed again."

Ino's voice grew quiet as she spoke, a few of the other Genin nodding lightly, agreeing with her. Her stomach gave a twist, she had agreed with Sasuke and told Sakura out about how weak she was…Was it her fault that she was dead? She had remembered Ino's words, her LAST words, and had tried to fight back.

"There's no use clinging to the past!"

The blonde girl jumped to her feet and planted her hands on her hips, flipping her long ponytail back over her shoulder.

"The past is the past, there's nothing we can do about it. All we can do now is do the measly little D-Rank missions we're forced to do while the Jōnin and ANBU look for the bandits and get rid of them."

"Their not bandits I'm telling you!"

Naruto threw his hands up in exasperation, he gone over it a thousand times already! They weren't bandits, they were too smart for it, and they completely disappeared as soon as ANBU jumped on their trail.

"I don't want to hear it." Ino lifted her hand towards Naruto to hush him. "I have too much to do today, my mom's sick and we're swamped with orders at the shop, and the last thing I want to hear is your stories."

And with that the girl turned, strutting away from all of them. A small sigh left the young lavender eyed girl as she stood also, Naruto's stomach dropping. Did even Hinata not believe what he was saying…?

"My grandfather's ill also…I should check and see if there's anything he needs."

"I'll walk you there; it's on my way to the vet."

Akamaru gave a small whimper as Kiba gave him a quick pet. Naruto watched in silence as one by one, the Rookie Nine bid him and Sasuke farewell. It was just the two of them left standing in a small alleyway that had become a recent gather point for the Genin.

"Come on Dobe…It's getting late, Kakashi will show up soon."

"Why…"

The young Uchiha stopped as he turned, hands pocketed as he waited. He had a hunch as to what the blonde was asking, but he wouldn't say anything until he was sure.

"Why is it so easy for you to forget her…To pretend she never existed?"

He sighed; yeah he knew that's what Naruto was going for. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, the sun beating down on his face as a gentle breeze tugged at his hair. He stayed like that, thinking. Naruto would start something if he didn't say anything, and he knew the blonde would give him more then enough time to say something.

"Clinging to the past can hold you down-"

"Don't feed me that bull! Itachi-san even goes to see Saya-chan!"

Sasuke flinched, damn Naruto for bringing Itachi into this! It was true, for about a year now, on special little days, you could find Itachi visiting his dead girlfriends' grave. It had been three months after Sakura's funeral, she had been sent on a simple scouting mission, just to see if the claims of thieves in the area were true.

There were no survivors. From what had been pieced together, the Ninken they had on their team had sniffed out a trail. They followed and were immediately ambushed. Itachi's Anbu squad had been the ones to come across the scene…

Itachi's team never spoke of what happened after they had been able to confirm which team it was by a bracelet the Uchiha had given Saya for her birthday, only of the condition of the bodies. Sasuke's brother had kept himself locked in his room for a week, then at the funeral, had returned to full duty. To this day Itachi refused to talk about what happened, but he was never shy to talk about Saya.

"Just drop it Naruto."

"But Sasu-"

"I said drop it!"

Naruto flinched as the young Uchiha spun on his heels, the Sharingan flashing angrily at him. The blonde did nothing but turn his head away from his friend, earning a smirk from him. Sasuke felt like he was being dominant over him, Naruto just didn't want to lose anyone else and was letting him get what he wanted, the last word in the conversation.

* * *

A month had passed since the dinner incident, and the village had almost completely crumbled. It had started after both Hinata's grandfather and Ino's mother's illness had gone from just summer flu, to collapsing on the floor vomiting blood.

Itachi had ran over to Shisui's home as soon as Naruto had told him when happened to the blonde girls mother, Shisui had been ill recently…There was no way Shisui had the same thing right?

"Shisui! Open your door!"

The raven haired man pounded his fist on the wooden door, waiting for not even five whole seconds before assaulting it again and yelling. He couldn't let himself in, Shisui had gotten his nasty old door replaced, and still had yet to give Itachi a copy of the key.

His mouth clamped shut before he had the chance to yell again, shuffling inside of the home halting his actions. Relief flooded through him as his cousin opened the door, his hair un-brushed, clothes wrinkled and missing his eye patch, he had been asleep.

"The hell Itachi…Do you know what time-"

"It's twelve forty-six, you'll live. How are you feeling?"

Itachi pushed his way passed the older man and into his dingy little apartment, earning an unappreciative grunt in return. Closing the door softly, so to not cause any unwanted damage to it, the older of the two followed silently as Itachi ripped the black sheets off the windows, letting sunlight streak inside.

"Noo no no…I'm tired and it's to bright…What ever your problem is can it wait?"

"Answer me Shisui, how are you feeling."

"A little pissed off if you want the truth…"

Itachi fixed his cousin with an unsatisfied glare, sitting on the cough and motioning Shisui to take a seat in his worn chair. Grunting as he sat, Shisui lifted his legs, resting his feet on the uneven coffee table, shifting as a spring poked him in the rear.

"Please, Naruto-kun just told me about-"

"I've heard about the illness last night at the hospital."

The elder Uchiha waved off his concerned cousins' expression. Sitting up slightly he lifted his shirt, showing off the black bruising hiding under layers of bandaging.

"I got hit pretty bad, started coughing up blood when I got back. All I have to do is take it easy for a few days, should stop coughing blood tomorrow or the day after."

"So there's no worry you have what they've had?"

Shisui shook his head, dropping his shirt and leaning back. He loved his cousin dearly, but the man needed to take a chill pill. He hadn't been in the village more then a day at a time, what were the chances of him catching whatever the civilian and elderly part of the population had? He was in his early twenties, he was in his prime!

Itachi gave a soft sigh as he nodded. He had been worried, possibly too worried. He didn't want to lose his beloved cousin; it just seemed to close to the date Saya had died…

"Come on Itachi, enough with the sad expression. Go on and shoo, I need to sleep alright?"

"Alright…Call if you need anything."

"Just go Itachi, before I kick you out."

Both men smirked, like hell Shisui had the balls to throw Itachi out. Standing the younger of the two began his work of refitting the black sheets onto his night crawler cousins' windows, bidding farewell and leaving.

Something didn't sit well with him, but he didn't know what. It was the same feeling he had when they got word Orochimaru had gotten into the Exams and Sasuke was hurt. Shaking his head he walked away from his cousins' home, staring at his feet as he returned home.

He had been silly to assume he'd show up to Shisui choking on his own blood, maybe all he had was a bit of the flu. The wound on his side though…Itachi shivered a little. What kind of hit would cause that? It would have been something rather large to make a bruise that covered his chest to his hip.

Itachi stopped in his tracks, a deep frown etched into his face as his eyes narrowed. Only his lower ribs were wrapped, the hospital staff was supposed to wrap the entire area affected. Judging by what Itachi saw, Shisui shouldn't have been allowed to leave the hospital with that much bruising. The whole side of his ribcage would be broken.

His stomach dropped. Shisui said he was fine, that he was just coughing a little blood right? It started after he got hit-No it started when he got back. Itachi pulled his hands from his pockets as he thought more on what his cousin said. With that kind of wound Shisui should be hospitalized, as soon as he was hit he should have been spewing blood. It shouldn't have started however long after when he got to the village, and the horrible patch job they did to him…Itachi spun on his heels and lunged towards his cousins' home, slamming his fist on the door.

"Shisui!"

There was no answer, like the first time he showed. He tried again, yelling a little louder and drawing the attention of those passing by. He didn't care, he knew something was wrong. He stood there yelling and pounding on the door, his cousin not even making a shuffle sound on the other side of the door.

Stepping back Itachi gathered chakra into his leg, slamming his foot into the door and busting it open. The door slammed into the wall and bounced back, Itachi pushing his shoulder into the door to stop it from closing. There was no sound, fear settled in the pit of the Uchiha's stomach.

"Shisui now is the time to yell at me for breaking your door!"

He stormed down the hall, looking in the bathroom and bedroom, no sign of his cousin. He ran this time into the living room, calling out the older Uchiha's name. He was about to call out again when he turned and looked into the kitchen, his cousin laying face first on the floor shaking.

He had blacked out off and on after that point. One moment he was rolling Shisui onto his back, his cousin gasping for air as he gagged and coughed on a mouth full of blood, and the next the kitchen was full of strange faces. Fugaku had shown and dragged Itachi from the house, leading him to the hospital, asking him over and over what had happened. Then it was the doctors' turns to question him, his story having come out in jumbles followed by a string of what was happening to his cousin.

He had no idea what time it was when his mother's soft hand grabbed his bloodied one, leading him to the nurses' showers. Mikoto waited as her son washed himself, chewing on her thumb nail worriedly as she glanced around. Once Itachi had emerged washed and changed, she quietly led him back to the waiting room, a doctor speaking with her husband.

"Where is he?"

The lady Uchiha gave a start as her eldest suddenly spoke, letting go of her hand and walking towards both of the men. Itachi ignored the way the doctor took a step back, only stepping closer as he towered over the short medic; his eyes thin as his wet hair dripped water into his face.

"Where…"

"Itachi."

Said mans' head snapped to Fugaku, his hands shaking slightly. The elder of them gave a short nod to the doctor, letting him leave as he turned to his son, crossing his arms over his chest. He should give the news to his son easily, but they both knew Itachi would claw his eyes out if he tried to beat around the bush.

"Shisui's in quarantine…He's stable though."

"He's ill…"

"Yes." Fugaku hesitated slightly before he grabbed his son's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "You did the right thing, going to see him. If you hadn't, he wouldn't be alive."

Itachi pulled his shoulder away from his father, glaring down at the ground. It didn't make him feel any better, knowing his cousin, his best friend was ill with something they had no idea what about, it ate at him like a lion feasting on a corpse.

* * *

At one month over seven hundred people had shown signs of the flu, only to become hospitalized with unexplained thinning blood which leaked into the lungs, stomach and chest cavities. At six weeks, the number of ill had raised to sixteen hundred, at seven and a half weeks to over two thousand. The death toll was to six hundred, and steadily rising.

It had proven ineffective to quarantine the ill, more and more people would just show up. Doctors couldn't explain what was causing the bleeding, only that there were stages. It took one month for someone to go from the sniffles to gagging blood; antibiotics prolonged the bleeding until five weeks had passed. After the bleeding started the individual had to be prescribed blood thickeners and become bed ridden.

Most cases with the second stage developed blood clots in various parts of the body. It was decided the best thing to do for the second stage, was to do nothing but closely monitor the patients condition. Too thin and the patient would bleed out, too thick and the body couldn't function properly, so every few days they'd be given a thickener and have their blood tested eight times through the day. This stage usually lasted three weeks until the final stage hit…

The third and final stage was violent in the doctors' eyes. The internal organs began to slowly melt, their bodies short circuiting. The final stage lasted the longest, without any form of medical help the patient would last two months, with the help of the hospital they lasted ten weeks.

By the time people began entering the final stage, word of the illness had spread across the Land of Fire. The Daimyō and Hokage had both agreed to quarantine the country off, asking any and all countries for any and all medical help. No one stepped up to help.

It wasn't until the Sandaime had been unable to hide the fact that he too was ill, that the country fell apart. He was in the final stage when his pupil, Jiraiya, had tracked down his only female teammate, who luckily had been for years a medical professional.

It had taken her almost a month and she had created a cure. After drawing blood from people in different stages, and even exposing herself to the illness, she had been able to catch how it attacked the host. It had confused her; it didn't affect everyone like a normal virus. It would sometimes completely bypass the weaker and attack those in their prime, with absolute no health issues.

Sadly, the lady Sanin had been too late to save her mentor. The Sandaime Hokage had died one week before she perfected the cure. It cured those in the first stage the very same day, those in the second in a year, but those entering or in the final stage…It was a matter of how comfortable they could be. Many begged to be taken off respirators, to have the pain end. Others opted to give the woman a chance to fix them, to be her guinea pigs to see if they could be healed.

Within weeks the Land of Fire had been cured, those who had been affected worst sent to Konoha for more medical treatment. The Daimyō and counsel members had named Tsunade Godaime Hokage without hesitation, wanting no one else but the woman who saved them to be their leader. When the letters had come to congratulate her on her title from the other Kage's, she had done nothing but send them shipments of the medicine she had made and how to make it.

They had called her rude, and said that what she had sent was unneeded. She showed them what rude was when she had thrown into their faces how they had turned their backs on her country. That yes they had at one time been at war with the Land of Fire, but that they were in a treaty, to never harm one another. That technically they had violated that treaty by leaving her country to fend for themselves. The other Kage's backed off and took the gifts without complaint.

The Land of Water was the first to send what little food they could as aid, and the other countries soon followed suit. When the subject on how the virus was spread, no one had or could find an answer. It wasn't from food, water, an allergy, nothing. Other countries sent soil and water samples, samples on their meats, nothing stuck out. There was no sign of the virus anywhere in the world, meaning it was a lab creation. But from who, where, and why?

One third of Konohagakure had been killed by the virus, as a whole, one fourth of the country. Over half of the entire country had been affected in some way by the virus, and more would still continue to be affected by it.

Hinata's younger sister Hinabi had been only a few days away from entering the second stage, while her older cousin Neji had just caught the virus. Itachi's older cousin Shisui had died the day before Tsunade had arrived in the village, Itachi in the middle of the second stage when the medic-nin had given him the cure, while Mebuki had just entered the final stage.

Her husband Kizashi had sold their home, renting a small one room apartment and placing all of their dead daughters' belongings inside. Mebuki was able to stay in the small apartment for five months until her condition worsened, and was hospitalized. Neither would be able to see each other as Kizashi took every available mission he could to pay for not only the small apartment, but pay his wife's hospital bills.

Mikoto and Fugaku did everything they could to help, Fugaku paying the first six months of rent and hospital bills while Mikoto stayed every day with Mebuki while Kizashi was away. Both Naruto and Sasuke cleaned their home, stalked their fridge, and ran any and all errands the couple needed ran.

Three months after the cure Ino had begged Tsunade to train her, when questioned as to why, the young blonde girl cried. She felt it was her fault she was unable to help her mother that it was her fault she died. The Hogake hushed her and agreed, she understood the pain and guilt, she was willing the help her become stronger, to stop it from happening again.

* * *

Eight months after the cure…

"It isn't healing…"

"Give it time."

A soft sigh filled the air at the rough voices reply. That's all she's been doing for the past two and a half years. It had started with stretches, the kind that made you scream for your own death, to something as simple as holding a brush to write with. She could now write, brush her hair, cook, clean, but throwing kunai…Her aim was off, horribly.

She had meditated, raised her stamina and chakra reserves, her body was toned, more then it ever was. She knew an array of different jutsu, her Genjutsu was high, only a few notches below that of her Shishou.

Earlier in the second year she began her training, she was graced with her mentors' name when she mastered an unknown jutsu he had taught her. She didn't learn all of it sadly, but a portion. She had gone so long with just calling him either Sensei or Shishou that it didn't matter anymore what his name was. All she wanted to do anymore was wake up, join him for breakfast, practice her kata, prepare lunch, practice her Ninjutsu and Genjutsu until it was time to prepare dinner, and then bathe before bed. It was the same every day, but it was relaxing.

"Dinners done."

A grunt sounded behind her as she lifted the boiling pot of fish stew. Letting out a little growl she pivoted on her heels and set down as fast but carefully as she could the pot, sighing out as her shoulder throbbed in protest.

"You should have waited Sakura-san."

The pinkette gave a shy smile at the slight scowl the older man gave her. Handing him the hot pads she turned to gather their bowls. She let her mentor fill their bowls, both eating in a comfortable silence as they listened to the crickets outside chirp.

"It's going to rain…"

"Mm."

The pinkette nodded in agreement. Both of them could feel it, the old man in his joints and she her shoulder. Her right hand shook slightly as she lifted the spoon to her mouth, she really shouldn't have lifted the pot.

"Don't do kata tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

A nod was her response. He was so strict with her training…Her chest tightened slightly. He was asking her to not do kata, to not work her arm. He didn't believe her arm was going to get better; it was as good as it could get.

"Hai Shishou…"

"Now go to bed, its getting late."

Sakura gave a short nod before she stood, taking her bowl to the makeshift skin and setting it inside. Their home was greatly old fashioned, they had no running water, but when Sakura wasn't to train she was to help keep maintenance. It was hard trying to replace the shoji doors correctly, but in a small way it was fun.

Wondering down the dark hall the pinkette made her way into the bathroom, filling the tub with water and heating it up in the process. Once the water was warm enough, she stripped and slid inside. She might have let the water get too warm seeing as her skin was red almost instantly, but it was relaxing on her sore body.

Letting out a sigh she pulled her long hair into a messy bun, leaning back on the wooden wall behind her. Her fingers lightly brushed the various scars over her body, she had gathered more in the passed two years. The one on her shoulder looked like a little sunburst to her now, still unattractive in her mind but it looked cute some times.

It definitely didn't look like a kunai was what stabbed her. An infection had set in and her sensei had to cut out dead flesh and muscle, making the wound go from a small puncture wound to spreading to the top of her shoulder to the top of her breast. It was at least easier to hide then the ones on her arms and legs…

She shuddered, her back was horrible too, though it was still healing. She had gained hundreds of scars on her back from whip lashes, the old man hand caught her using a kunai on herself. He had told her he didn't save her to have her weaken herself in such a way, that every time he caught her cutting her arms or legs he'd whip her until he was the one tired. And the man might be old but he has a lot of energy.

There was no hope the scars on her arms and legs wound heal and go away without the help of medical Ninjutsu. She was horrified to find out the man didn't know any, yet he had been able to do what was virtually impossible by saving her, it didn't make sense. And it probably never would to her, the old man was so secretive.

Letting out a deep sigh she began scrubbing at her flesh, being careful of the old wounds on her body. She was only told to not work her kata, she was still allowed to train. That meant the old man still saw potential in her, and she was happy about it.

* * *

**AN**

**The end kind of suck I think. v.v I'm sorry about that. But yeah, I figured I should post this chapter before getting to the actual story, this helps explain a lot of stuff your going to see. I was going to wait before I started writing this, but from your reviews it looked like you really wanted this chapter, so here it is! xD For those of you guessing who the old man is, I shall not say anything, the old man wont be in the story for a while after this, though he will be mentioned a lot. Your going to see changes in probably a lot of people, like Neji, Ino, Sasuke, and lets face it, Sakura. I must thank my boyfriend after this point, because he help me NONE STOP with this story. We have it all planned out towards the end, but not fully finished. I'm so excited to see what all of you think of this~ x3 Please review! It makes me cry yaoi tears of joy and want to type. Faving and following make me feel like I'm loved, lol. So until next time, ja ne!**

**Li**


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